The Second Ballot Act 1908 was an electoral system in place from 1908 to 1913 in New Zealand. It applied to elections to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

. It was used in the 1908 and 1911 general elections, and a number of by-elections. It was introduced by the

Liberal Government Liberal government may refer to: Australia In Australian politics, a Liberal government may refer to the following governments administered by the Liberal Party of Australia: * Menzies Government (1949–66), several Australian ministries under S ...

under

Joseph Ward Sir Joseph George Ward, 1st Baronet, (26 April 1856 – 8 July 1930) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 17th prime minister of New Zealand from 1906 to 1912 and from 1928 to 1930. He was a dominant figure in the Liberal and Unit ...

, who feared that the emergence of the

Independent Political Labour League The Independent Political Labour League (IPLL) was a small New Zealand political party. It was the second organised political party to win a seat in the New Zealand House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and was a forerunner of the m ...

(IPLL) would split the vote on the political left and thus be beneficial to the conservative opposition, who in 1909 formed the Reform Party. Ward expected that this electoral mechanism would result in all second ballots to be between Liberal and conservative (Reform) candidates. In the electorate, however, two Liberal candidates received similar votes and both were eliminated in the first ballot. This left the Labour candidate,

David McLaren David McLaren may refer to: * David McLaren (colonial manager) (1785–1850), colonial manager (CEO) of the colony of South Australia (1837–1841) * David McLaren (politician) (1872–1939), mayor of Wellington and member of the New Zealand Parlia ...

, facing a conservative candidate and with many liberal voters transferring their allegiance to McLaren, he became the only candidate of the IPLL who was ever elected to the

. The Second Ballot Act applied to general electorates only, and not to the four Maori constituencies. The following by-elections were held using the Second Ballot Act:

References

{{Reflist Repealed New Zealand legislation Election legislation 1908 in New Zealand law